What To Wear…
by badly-knitted
Summary: The squad's Halloween party is coming up, so Dee and Ryo need to choose their costumes. Written for Prompt 506: Costume at slashthedrabble. Set after the manga.


**Title:** What To Wear…

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** Dee, Ryo

 **Rating:** PG-13

 **Setting:** After the manga.

 **Summary:** The squad's Halloween party is coming up, so Dee and Ryo need to choose their costumes.

 **Word Count:** 1409

 **Written For:** Prompt 506: Costume at slashthedrabble.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

.

"Given any thought yet to what you're gonna wear for the squad's Halloween party?" Dee asked Ryo as they strolled back to their unmarked car, sipping the hot coffee they'd just bought. They were taking a brief but badly needed break from their current investigation; questioning people was thirsty work.

Ryo stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. "I'd completely forgotten about that!"

"Forgotten about Halloween?" Dee knew his partner could be a bit of an airhead, but the shop windows were full of Halloween decorations, candy, and pumpkins. Surely not even Ryo could have missed that.

"No, idiot! I've just been so focused on getting Bikky's costume sorted for Trick or Treating that I forgot I'd need a costume of my own for the party."

That made a kind of sense, but… "You're not dressin' up to take Bikky out?" Usually Ryo did; he liked to get into the spirit of things.

"Bikky's going with Carol and her aunt this year, hoping people give out better quality candy in the suburbs. He wasn't very impressed with what he got last year."

Dee laughed at that. "Smart kid; he might be on to somethin'. Most of the folks in my buildin' were handin' out the cheap stuff last year."

"But not you," Ryo grinned, already knowing the answer. Dee always bought the best he could afford, because he'd be the one eating any leftovers.

"Hell no! I have standards!" Dee downed the rest of his coffee and studied his partner speculatively. "I haven't got my costume yet, can't decide; vampire and demon? Or should I go with something different this time, any suggestions? Better yet, why don't we take a tour of the costume shops after work, see what we can find?"

After a moment's consideration while he finished his coffee and dropped the empty cup in a nearby bin, Ryo nodded. "Okay, sure. Bikky's got basketball practice so he won't be home until later. Should give us of plenty of time, and you can come back to mine for dinner after."

"Great!" Dee barely restrained himself from rubbing his hands together with glee. Costume hunting would be so much fun, and if he was invited for dinner maybe he'd get to spend the night too!

As soon as their shift ended, Dee practically dragged Ryo out to his car.

"Dee, slow down! What's the rush?"

"We've left it late as it is. Don't want all the best costumes to be gone before we get there!"

"Five or ten minutes is hardly likely to make a difference." Ryo tugged himself free, shaking his head in amused exasperation.

Dee slowed and looked back at his lover, pausing to let him catch up. "Yeah, I guess, it's just… Halloween costumes! How can you not be excited about that?"

"You're just a big kid at heart, aren't you?" Ryo chuckled as they walked the rest of the way to the car and got in. "I swear you love Halloween even more than you love Christmas, and that's saying something!"

"Dressin' up and gettin' free candy, what's not to love?" Dee fastened his seat belt and started to car, pulling out of the parking lot onto the street, keeping just below the speed limit, weaving his way through the late afternoon traffic.

"You're a little old for Trick or Treating, don't you think?"

"Nuh uh! I get to chaperone the kids from the orphanage. Saves Mother doin' it, and I charge 'em one piece of candy each for havin' a police escort."

"You're shameless!"

"Hey, it's not like Mother lets the rugrats keep it all. Whatever they get, she puts it out of reach and doles it out one piece each a day until it's all gone. She says it's fairer that way and the treats last longer."

"She has a point I guess. Maybe I should try that with Bikky, keep him from overindulging."

Dee gave a disparaging snort. "Wouldn't work. There's nowhere you could hide the candy that the house ape wouldn't find it. Anyway, forget that for now, we're almost there! Look out for a parkin' spot."

The costume shop Dee had chosen was vast, probably the biggest in the city, filled with racks of outfits in a wide range of sizes, and as it catered solely to adults, many of the costumes were quite saucy.

"You'd look sexy as a French maid," Dee suggested cheekily.

"No way!" Ryo blushed crimson. "Can you imagine what Ted would say if I showed up to the party dressed like that? Not to mention the Chief!"

Dee frowned, imagining the Chief's reaction. "Yeah, good point; I hadn't thought of that."

"Obviously. Good thing one of us is thinking with their brain." Ryo wandered over to the nearest rack, flipped through a few outfits and shuddered. "Some costumes are too scary even for Halloween."

Glancing at the clown suits, Dee grimaced. One thing he and Ryo agreed on was that clowns were seriously creepy. "You got that right! Nothin' in the world would convince me to wear one of those." He looked around. "Y'know, this place is a lot bigger than I remember; we could be here all night if we're not careful. How about you go that way, and I'll go this way? Divide and conquer."

"Fine with me."

"Okay. Shout out if you find anythin' good; I'll do the same." Dee headed off across the store while Ryo turned back to his search, detouring around the clown costumes to look at the more appealing choices.

Wandering from rack to rack, he came across all the traditional Halloween outfits: ghosts, vampires, demons, wizards and witches, Frankenstein's monster, werewolf, ghoul, zombie… Then there were naughty nurse outfits, French maids like the one Dee had spotted when they'd arrived, schoolgirl and schoolboy, fairies and elves, cats and lions, scarecrow and tin man, every superhero he could name, and some he couldn't, and all manner of period costumes. So many to choose from, but nothing he saw felt right. He could be a cowboy, that was a pretty safe choice, but he and Dee had done that as roleplay so perhaps not. Maybe a highwayman? Or a Samurai? Come to think of it, Dee would look great in that costume; he had the build for it.

Then he spotted something that seemed to be all reds and golds and russets, the autumn colours that suited him so well. He pulled it from the rack and held it up for a good look. Clowns were one thing, but this was another matter entirely. There was just one problem; was he brave enough to wear something so form-fitting?

"Any luck?" Dee asked, coming up behind him.

"I don't know; what d'you think? Maybe it's more you than me…" Ryo held up the Harlequin costume.

Dee let out a low whistle. "You'd look amazin' in that."

"It's kind of tight though." It was a two-piece outfit, a tunic and leggings in eye-catching diamond-patterned fabric, with a fancy hat and a tiny domino mask to match.

"Not that tight," Dee disagreed. "I mean the leggings, sure, but the bottom of the tunic should come down far enough that it wouldn't be too revealing, and after the party…" Dee trailed off with a grin and a wink.

It was the look in his lover's eyes that swayed Ryo; why shouldn't he get a bit daring this one night a year? Wasn't that the whole point of dressing up, wearing something you normally wouldn't? "Okay, I'll get it. What about you though? Have you found anything?"

"Not yet, but I've been thinkin' maybe it would befun to dress up as a superhero…" He drifted over towards the racks of superhero costumes, flicking through them, discarding one after another, until… "Aha! Now this is what I'm talkin' about! Mysterious, dangerous, yet heroic; the perfect combination." Dee snatched up an outfit, checking he'd picked the right size, and showed it to his lover. "How d'ya think I'd look as the Green Arrow?"

Ryo studied the outfit and nodded approval; green was definitely Dee's color, even the darker shades, and if anything the pants were even tighter than the ones Ryo would be wearing. "I like it!"

"Then let's go pay the man!" Dee didn't want to give his partner any chance to change his mind about his costume.

No doubt about it, they were really going to turn heads at this year's party!

.

The End


End file.
